The real globalisation trump card at Davos

The excitement of Davos drew to a close on Friday and, despite the marching band to welcome President Trump, it was a more restrained affair than most of us expected.

Prior to the fanfare, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Chinese channel CGTN’s anchor Cheng Lei. We discussed the state of the global economy and touched on the fact that in terms of real estate, the United States and Europe are seeing healthy expansion, as are key markets in Asia Pacific such as India, Japan and Australia.

My interview ended just before Mr Trump took to the stage. It was a moment everyone was waiting for and those expecting a more aggressive stance were pleasantly surprised by the tone of his speech as he emphasised that “America First does not mean America alone”. The overall response from the audience was muted, though, as questions remain about how those words will translate into action.

Nevertheless, the sense of optimism for 2018 was palpable throughout my five days in Davos. Many global leaders communicated their commitment and determination to go beyond short-term economic prosperity to ensure long-term sustainable growth by investing in education and infrastructure while tackling pressing issues of climate change and terrorism.

It’s clear a new world order is taking shape with technology at the centre of it. As I wrote previously, ‘big tech’ was certainly in the spotlight over the past few days – for good and bad reasons. The world understands that technology has a huge role to play in driving globalisation and growth, but that this should not be at the expense of societal well-being.

The end of Davos left us delegates with a sense of responsibility to make sure that technological innovation brings advantages to many rather than a few. It is only through cooperation, mutual respect and shared goals that we can make this happen.